How the food we eat makes climate change worse

The way we produce and eat food must change urgently both to cut the amount of planet-warming emissions produced by agriculture, and to help farmers adapt to climate change, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Monday.

Without swift action, climate change will put millions of people at risk of hunger and poverty, the U.N. agency said in a report to mark World Food Day on Oct 16.(Shutterstock)

The way we produce and eat food must change urgently both to cut the amount of planet-warming emissions produced by agriculture, and to help farmers adapt to climate change, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Monday.

Without swift action, climate change will put millions of people at risk of hunger and poverty, the U.N. agency said in a report to mark World Food Day on Oct 16.

Here are some key facts:

1. Agriculture, forestry and changes in land use combined are the second largest source of greenhouse gases, producing 21% of global emissions. The top emitter is the energy sector at 47%.

2. To feed a growing global population, agricultural production must rise by about 60 percent by 2050.

3. Climate change is expected to cut harvests in developing countries in the long term - although it may also improve some crop yields in the short term.

4. If climate change continues unchecked, it will make an additional 42 million people vulnerable to hunger in 2050, according to FAO calculations. However, that figure does not include people affected by extreme weather events such as drought or floods.

5. Small farmers, cattle herders and fishermen are the most vulnerable to climate change, and will need better access to technologies, markets, information and credit to adapt to climate change.

6. Agriculture suffered some 25% of the total economic losses caused by climate-related disasters in developing countries between 2003 and 2013. For drought-related disasters, the share rose to 84%.

8. Carbon dioxide emissions from agriculture are mainly caused by changes in land use, such as converting forests to pasture or cropland, and land degradation from over-grazing.

9. Most direct emissions of methane and nitrous oxide are caused by livestock flatulence, rice production in flooded fields and the use of nitrogen fertilisers and manure.

10. Nearly 50 percent of world food production depends on nitrogen fertiliser. The other half depends on nitrogen found in soil, animal manure, nitrogen-fixing plants, crop residues, wastes and compost.

11. More than a third of food produced worldwide is lost or wasted. Rotting food produces methane, which is a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

12. Deforestation and forest degradation account for about 11 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions, more than the world’s entire transport sector.